The Chemical Engineer: A Retrospective

Jamie Cleaver journeys through the life of TCE, exploring its contribution to our technical challenges, our professional identity and our community, amid massive scientific developments, societal changes, and a few changes in style

I CAN recall Freshers’ Week. Sandwiched in the programme between the usual library registration and sports and societies fair, we had a talk from an IChemE membership person. “Sign up as a student member and you’ll receive a monthly copy of The Chemical Engineer magazine,” they said. Is that it? we thought. But because most of us were keen and still had some money in our bank accounts we got our cheque books out.

Since then, TCE has been dropping on my doormat month after month, year after year without missing a beat. Life has brought the usual twists and turns, both professionally and personally, but TCE has been one of the constant features for me, and for all IChemE members, I guess. The constancy of TCE publication has endured for 1,000 issues. It’s my privilege to be invited to reflect on the evolution of TCE by reviewing every 100th edition, starting with the first, published in 1925, and ending with the 900th edition from 2016.

Style

Let’s start in style. A visual comparison of every 100th issue of The Chemical Engineer is like looking at the evolution of car designs or interior decor. Issues 1 (1925) and 100 (1950) have the style of a formal communication from a learned society, in keeping with its Quarterly Bulletin title. The content is factual, containing news, a diary of events, membership, and library additions, and both issues are short, coming in at four, and 12 pages, respectively.
Issue 200 (1966) now bears the title The Chemical Engineer, and sports a single monochrome photo showing the late HRH the Duke of Edinburgh examining the tie of IChemE president FE Warner. Presumably the Duke was admiring the IChemE coat of arms rather than inspecting it for evidence of sloppy eating. At this stage TCE is evolving into a magazine while retaining much of the learned society content at a full 17 pages.

Fast-forwarding to issue 300 (1975, pictured below), we encounter a style shift on a par with the advent of punk rock. Our charming, learned society-style publication has transformed into a 75-page trade journal, most of which constitutes advertising from 39 separate advertisers. The core content is probably still there but readers must hunt to find it. The advertising overload seems to abate by the time we get to issue 400 (1984). In fact, this edition of TCE bears a striking resemblance to the current editions, with further developments in use of colour and sophisticated graphics coming in issue 800 (2008) and issue 900 (2016).

Technical challenges

Not much to report here. No, seriously, and to my surprise, the technical challenges being reported in issue 1 (1925) would not be out of place in this current issue. Examples include coal-to-oil conversion, industrial water supply and stream pollution, the organisation of production, the dust hazard in industry, and acid-resisting metals. Issue 100 (1950) continues the familiar list of technical challenges with subjects such as atomic energy, and the approach to automatic process control, along with many other familiar challenges. My favourite example of technical challenges from issue 1 (1925) includes a library addition entitled Power Alcohol: Its production and utilisation, by GW Monier-Williams. The abstract reads as follows: “This book deals with the arguments for and against the employment of alcohol as a motor fuel, together with the theoretical and practical considerations governing its production and utilisation. The production of power alcohol from vegetable matter is described, and also the manufacture of the synthetic product, in each case with diagrammatic illustrations of plants. The possibilities of the use of alcohol in internal combustion engines is discussed, and results are given of tests made.”

So, here we are 99 years and 999 issues of TCE later, still challenged by the topic of biofuels. Science and enabling technology have moved on significantly, but the fundamental challenges remain.

To my surprise, the technical challenges being reported in issue 1 (1925) would not be out of place in this current issue...

Moving forward through the issues we can track the impact of microcomputers on process control (issue 400, 1984), pictured above and an ever-increasing emphasis on process safety. Nuclear fusion gets an article all to itself in issue 700, (2000), pictured below. The article tagline reads: “commercial fusion power should be a reality in 40 years”. Fusion has been one of the biggest technical challenges of our time and has a way of capturing the imagination.

Journeying through the issues of TCE, the core technical challenges have not changed. They are consistent with the key challenges of water, energy, food, and sustainable wellbeing, expressed in the fourth iteration of IChemE’s Chemical Engineering Matters document published in 2022.

Chemical engineers can tackle the technical problems within our remit using our conventional tools of mass and energy balances, transport equations, a bit of maths for process control and optimisation, coupled with lashings of common sense and shared collective experience. However, since 1925, developments in scientific progress and societal need have changed our professional landscape beyond recognition. The one constant in life is change, and our biggest challenge is adapting to it. Issue 900 (2016) contains an excellent article by Stuart Grant bearing the title “The Adaptive Engineer”. The article ends by encouraging us to “get comfortable with being uncomfortable”.

Professional identity

The theme of the profession’s identity is constantly recurring throughout the editions of TCE. Contributors have gone to great lengths to determine what is, and what is not chemical engineering, and to draw clear lines between chemical engineering and other disciplines. Reading issue 1 (1925), I was struck by the close collaboration between IChemE and our American counterparts at the AIChE in the form of a joint meeting. The text reads as follows: The Third Annual Corporate Meeting will take place in Leeds on Friday 17th July 1925, in the Philosophic Hall. Sir Arthur Duckham, K.C.B., will preside and will be supported by the President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Dr. Charles Reese. The Joint Meeting with the American Institute to which reference has just been made, will be the most important one so far in the history of the Institution.

I have a vision of these pioneering chemical engineers casting the framework for our discipline in the crucible of structured meetings, formal dinners, and correspondence over a few short years.

In issue 200 (1966) I discovered the summary text from the presidential address by Peter Dankwerts. This qualifies as one of the most insightful pieces of writing I have ever encountered in any issue of TCE. Dankwerts’ piece bears the title “Science in Chemical Engineering” and contains one of the clearest expositions of our identity. He introduces the history of the subject, declaring that “the [initial] role of the chemical engineer was mainly to provide vessels, pipes, pumps etc to enable the reaction to be carried out under the conditions specified by the chemist”. He continues: “The chemical engineer as we know him today [1966] occupies a very different position.” From this point he develops his thesis by invoking the following definition of chemical engineering recently adopted by IChemE: “Chemical engineering is the part of engineering concerned with processes which change the composition or properties of matter in bulk.”

What follows is a compelling discourse on the identity of the profession. The education of chemical engineers gets a thorough workover. He advocates the benefit of chemical engineers being involved in undergraduate teaching, and states the following: “It seems to me that the particular cross-section of scientific and engineering knowledge which we have been able to give our students has enabled them to make an important contribution to a rapidly expanding chemical industry.”

Dankwerts continues with the theme of chemical engineering science, defining the term as “the aspects of science developed by chemical engineers for their own purposes, in fields not covered by other branches of technology”. With great foresight, he predicts that chemical engineering science “is likely to alter greatly over the years, in response to the changing requirements of industry and to new scientific discoveries and ideas for their application”. He brings the subject to life with examples of chemical engineering science contributions to industry.

Finally Dankwerts closes by considering the widening scope of chemical engineering, as it finds application beyond the traditional chemical and petroleum industries. In two sentences I think he implicitly encapsulates the essence of chemical engineering: “Whatever happens we must ensure that chemical engineering retains the flexibility that it owes to its broad scientific basis. We must not allow our interests to be imprisoned by particular industries, current practice, or existing techniques – we must retain the advantages we now enjoy, of being able to take a leading part in advances on many fronts.”

Dankwerts’ words were written nearly 60 years ago. So much has changed since then, but his words stand the test of time and provide a clear vision and guide for what chemical engineering is all about.

In spite of Dankwerts’ comments in 1966 about the profession moving beyond oil and gas, the oil and gas label continues to persist into issue 900 (2016). When asked about careers advice for new graduates in chemical engineering, Dame Judith Hackitt urges people to “look at ChemEngMatters vistas and think broadly about all of those opportunities. Let’s break this link that chemical engineering means oil and gas and petrochemicals”.

The public and corporate view of engineering is a recurring theme related to our identity. Issue 600 (1995) contains a report on the work of Rob Margetts, chairman of the Action for Engineering steering group. According to the article, “the first objective of the group is to promote engineering as a career to schoolchildren”. Rob says: “We must reverse the common perception that engineers are only good for hewing wood and pumping water, which is untrue both in fact and perception.” Well, I guess all this is still work in progress.

The letters section of TCE also features regular views on our engineering identity. Issue 700 (2000) is a prime example, containing four contributions responding to a previous article discussing the professional status of engineers. The general sentiment of the letters was to bemoan the lack of recognition of engineering as a profession. One reader wrote: “Unless we do something about the way engineering is treated, we will without doubt have a serious shortage of good engineers in the near future.”

Our identity is inextricably linked to our education and training. Over the years, TCE has been a vehicle for presenting and discussing these issues. In 1950, (issue 100) the government apparently saw the need to increase the number of people entering the profession. This issue of TCE reports on an initiative from the Ministry of Education to supplement National Certificate qualifications in chemistry and applied chemistry to include aspects of chemical engineering. The ministry also made 120 Technical State scholarships available. Issue 200 (1966) reports on a speech made at the annual dinner by FS Dainton, vice-chancellor, University of Nottingham. “Dr Dainton said he felt considerable concern about the quality and quantity of people going into chemical engineering.” I guess this can go on the list of items for work in progress.

Community

Since its inception, TCE has been a focal point for the chemical engineering community. From its very first issue, a clear sense of an international community emerges with the collaboration between IChemE and our American counterparts, AIChE. Every issue since then strengthens the international community by promoting industrial and academic collaborations and conferences. Issue 300 (1975) goes as far as translating the synopses of the main articles into French and German. In more recent times, TCE plays a central role in curating the global chemical engineering community. Issue 800 (2008), for example, contains an excellent supplement on chemical engineering in India, discussing themes of education, growth, new technologies, and opportunities.

Another important community aspect that stands out from my trawl through TCE history is the role of women in engineering. Issue 200 (1966) carries a forward-thinking column on what we would now call continuous professional development (CPD). The progressive nature of the article is somewhat let down by the wording, as follows: The days are gone when a man could go through his working life secure in the knowledge that the degree or diploma which he had obtained from a university or technical college at the beginning of his career would see him through to the finish.

However, TCE has been a constant voice for change in this respect. Issue 400 (1984) highlights the Women Into Science and Engineering (WISE) initiative, with an editorial piece that asks the question: “WISE is certainly going to make an impact, but will that impact last?” Well, the WISE campaign has gone from strength to strength. Fast-forward to issue 900 (2016) and we find the women in engineering conversation still on the agenda. An excellent article by Sarah Clark describes a webinar series to promote women in engineering. The article extends the concept to the wider conversation of diversity and inclusion.

It seems to me that one of the great successes of TCE is its ability to sustain and grow our community. This might be through technical articles, pieces that challenge perceived and established norms, people news, events, and the letters section.

Our identity is inextricably linked to our education and training. Over the years, TCE has been a vehicle for presenting and discussing these issues

Takeaways

What has the journey through the TCE archives revealed? Over 1,000 TCE issues, and nearly 100 years, the way we do chemical engineering has changed beyond all recognition. The profession has experienced immense advances in underpinning science. The blistering number-crunching power of modern computers is a far cry from the mainframe computers of the 1960s and 70s – which in turn are a far cry from the slide-rule capability in the early days of the profession. The challenges facing society have become more complex and existential.

However, while the way we do things has changed, the main technical challenges remain. Right from the first issue in 1925, the focus is on meeting needs for energy, food, water, and a raft of products for health, well-being, and lifestyle. Chemical engineering science, discussed in the presidential address of Peter Dankwerts (issue 200), is the enabler for our profession to develop new solutions to these technical challenges. We are constantly striving to improve the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of products and processes. Again, we achieve this through the appliance of chemical engineering science. It seems to me that this helps locate the identity of the profession.

I’m left with an impression of TCE being at the heart of our community. It informs on all aspects of the profession, from technical advances to practical tips, professional skills and news, and sets the profession in the context of the wider world. This journey has been a revelation. I find myself regretting the months that I didn’t make time to read my copy of TCE. It is a jewel in the crown of the Institution, and a credit to the dedicated and talented production team, and the army of contributors.